Natsuzora: THE Anime Expy Maker that everyone can die for!

Natsuzora by NHK is a docudrama tv series released in 2019. Inspired by the life of Reiko Okuyama, the late wife of Yoichi Kotabe, the man who designed Bowser of Super Mario fame, this docudrama focuses on her fictitious expy, who herself animated expies of many famous pop culture characters including Little Orphan Annie and Devilman.

The most popular part of the whole series overall is about Annie the Witch, who is basically an expy of Mako Chan and Mitsuteru Yokoyama's Sunny and Sally, with other elements from Majokko Meg Chan, Chappy, Fujio Akatsuka's Akko Chan, and Little Orphan Annie.  

The history of Akim

From the source: http://www.lazonamorta.it/lazonamorta2/?p=10835

“Akim” is a very particular comic book character: he is certainly the most famous Italian tarzanide (characters inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Tarzan") and he crossed over with the fantasy spectrum much more willingly and often in his stories, in all its forms and meanings, from fantasy to science fiction, from weird to horror to mystery, than his "literary progenitor" had in film. "Akim" was also one of the most enduring and long-lived series of the comics scene in our country of Italy: in all its "career" it had the beauty of four editorial lives for a total of around 2300 issues.

Its first issues were the so-called "strips" and were published in Italy from 1950 to 1967 by the M. Tomasina Typography on a weekly basis on texts by Roberto Renzi and drawings by Augusto Pedrazza for a total of 894 issues. The publication was divided into two periods, the first series includes 99 issues from 10 February 1950 to 28 December 1951, while the second series had 795 issues from 3 January 1952 to 31 March 1967. Furthermore, from 1954 to 1968 the strips were reprinted by the M. Tomasina in “Akim Gigante”, a publication consisting of five series of books including then-unpublished stories for another total of 508 stapled books.

And these were the first two lives of "Akim".

Eight years later, "Akim" returned to newsstands with a comic series in a Bonellian version: released between 1976 and 1983, this third life of the character took up the homonymous version of 1950 and was published by the Altamira publishing houses (the current Sergio Bonelli Editore) from 1976 to 1980 and Quadrifoglio from 1980 to 1983, for a total of 84 monthly issues plus a special register. The texts were once again Roberto Renzi and the drawings were always made by Augusto Pedrazza, who was assisted by Pini Segna.

The fourth and last life of "Akim" is recent history, given that for some years If Edizioni has been proceeding with the complete reprint of the Bonellian version in double albums with new unpublished covers by Corrado Mastantuono, which has so far reached just under a dozen issues.

Up to here the editorial history of "Akim", but now let's see who exactly this character is.

Inspired partly by Salgari's novels, partly by Kipling's “Kim” and “The Jungle Books” as well as being partly by Burroughs' "Tarzan", Akim has aristocratic origins and in reality his name is Jim (like the orphan boy he will later adopt): son of an English consul in Calcutta, which is now Kolkata, Count Fredrick Rank, he was shipwrecked as a toddler child off the coast of Africa and was saved by reaching the mainland with his mother. However, the woman is immediately torn to pieces by a hungry panther, while the child is saved and raised by a village of monkeys and great apes, headed by the gorilla Arab (later renamed Kar due to many factors). The child grows up and learns to talk to all the animals of the jungle, being accepted and respected by all species and soon becoming their king.

In the newly written stories produced for France (a total of 756 numbers added to those of the Italian edition, bringing the tally to over 2000 published stories, or in short, 2256 stories, the most official Italian and French ones of any non-Anglophone Tarzanide character on record other than Zembla), the authors begin the saga with some variations: here we find an airplane in trouble falling into the jungle, igniting a crash; a young child named Jim is saved by the gorilla Kar, son of Udug, who adopts him and gives him a new name, Akim.

If at first glance it seems the same script as "Tarzan", in reality "Akim" differs from his Burroughsian ancestor, both for the unprecedented anthropomorphism of the various animal species that he meets in the stories and for a strong ecological sensitivity of the series, with frequent references to a more balanced relationship between man and Nature.

The appearances of members of Akim's clan are numerous and vary from episode to episode: the core is however more or less constant, with the gorilla Kar and the mischievous and lazy monkeys Zig and Ming. They are often joined by two human characters: Rita, Akim's partner, and Jim, an orphan boy adopted by the king of the jungle. Minor roles are also occupied by the kings and queens of the various animal species: in particular the elephant Baroi, the lion Rag and the bear Brik.

Akim's historical enemies are also numbered by the dozen, and all of great character and figurative weight: the hungry and devilish black panther Orrg who killed his mother; the bloody Gabon tribe led by the invader Matù, a follower of the idol of Kaha*; science fiction (mad) scientists like Mister Gold, Genius and Doctor Xor; the transforming alien Mixor; the invisible Professor Winter; the masked Atomix, Kadabras and Mysterior; General Samura; the pirate Cin Fu*; the occult Black Spider; the warmongering colossus Kid Motimbo; the monstrous Tiger Prince, Drug and Terror. Not to mention the incursions of disappeared peoples, such as the ancient Romans, Mongols, Vikings, Indians, Arabs, Africans, Martians from Mars and (even) unicorns, minotaurs, monstrous dinosaurs and carnivorous plants. In short, everything and more!

*Armed with rather questionable implications, characters from the fictitious Gabon tribe are likely adapted loosely from uncomfortably outdated Portuguese, French and Spanish depictions of the Beti Pahuin, a widespread Bantu ethnic group subfamily in most tropically forested parts of West Central Africa.

*Although violent piracy is still a highly questionable thing in many tropical waters regardless, Cin Fu’s design was likely outdated even for its day and also by European Union standards.

To get a better idea of ​​the fantastic 360-degree character of the series, just take a look at many of the titles of the books that leave no room for doubt on the issues addressed: "The Timeless Island", "The Hawk Men", "Terror Comes in the Rain", "The Sorcerer's Revenge", "The Vampire Trees", "The Lord of Darkness", "Space Base", "The Queen of the Galaxy", "The Ice Swords", "The land of giant iguanas", "Genius and the super robots", "The man who came from space", "Black ghosts", "The robot idol "," The reptilian men", "Insects invade the world", "Axor, the planet of diamonds ”, and “The Pharaoh's curse" are just a few examples, but certainly not all! Totally, Fantasy was at home in "Akim" and has been for a long, long time!

Tarzan in European Cinema

Let’s look at the films featuring Steve Hawkes and Jose Luis Ayestaran (aka Richard Yesteran) as Tarzan! 

The first film that Steve Hawkes appeared as Tarzan was in Tarzan and the golden Grotto, a campy part time Mockbuster set in the then contemporary Sexual Revolution. Tarzan and the Brown Prince was its sequel which got released three years later, in 1972.

Tarzan and the Jungle Mystery was even more vacuous. Made in 1973, it was filmed in the Ivory Coast with Richard Yesteran as a pretty but dull Tarzan closely resembling the variant of Joe Kubert. Its sequel was Tarzan and the Treasure of Kawana, which was released in 1977 but made three years earlier.

A Long Essay of Buruuba

The plot of the film based on Baruuba. Credited to a Japanese reviewer. 

In the early Showa period, Seiichiro Watanabe heads to Africa with his daughter Reiko, Reiko's uncle and entomologist Kenkichi, in an attempt to find the whereabouts of her lost friend Dr. Shiga in the hinterland of Africa. Seiichiro's purpose was to find the whereabouts of Dr. Shiga, but in reality, he was looking for the diamond mine leaked by Dr. Shiga's wife.

Seiichiro and three others visited another village as an interpreter for Tokio Shimamura, who was born locally. Then he met a supportive chief and decided to have him serve as a guide for the indigenous people. However, the chief says Dr. Shiga died after being eaten by a lion. Still, Seiichiro tries to go to the hinterland. Tokio asks Seiichiro about the true reason for continuing his safari (exploration trip). On the other hand, the natives tell the party the fact that even the chief did not know. They say that after the death of Mr. and Mrs. Shiga, their son was raised by an old lioness. It is true that Shiga's wife wrote that his son's name was "Takeji" and moved on.

After leaving in search of a shining mountain, the party was attacked by a human-eating race, and Reiko and Kenkichi escaped. However, the remaining Seiichiro and Tokio are caught. The party was supposed to be burned at the stake, except for Reiko and Kenkichi, but since Dr. Shiga had given them a stake in his lifetime, he was taken as a guest. Eventually Kenkichi will join.

Reiko is attacked by a gorilla on her way out. A half-naked young man appeared there and she saved her. The young man always shouted "Buruuba", but he didn't know the word. When Reiko examined Buruuba’s knife, it belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Shiga. Even when Reiko was attacked by the snake, Buruuba stretched her body to get rid of the snake and gradually became intimate with Reiko. As they ride on an elephant and play in the jungle, a gun-shot child appears. Buruuba San, who pulled out the bullet, knew it was the work of a Ningen. Finally, the party found Reiko with Buruuba. Tokio shoots a gun, so Buruuba disappears and only Reiko is brought back.

Eventually, the party found a glowing mountain (diamond mine), but was attacked by part time cannibals. The majesty of Dr. Shiga did not reach their chief. Immediately before being almost executed, Buruuba sends beasts such as lions and elephants to a cannibal village to destroy the village, and Tokio is also eaten by the lion. Seiichiro and Reiko try to bring Buruuba back to his hometown of Japan, but Buruuba, who cannot believe he is a barbaric young Japanese man, jumps into the river and returns to the jungle. Whilst Shaking off her bored stationary father Seiichiro, Reiko follows him and disappears into the jungle.

The terrible Yuru!

A Peruvian reviewer made a review on one of the worst Tarzan inspired tv shows ever. And, it's a freaking Peruvian one. Check It Out! http://pakobardales.blogspot.com/2007/02/yuru-un-bodrio-seudo-amaznico.html

They arrived one day in Iquitos, without having previously made a real and constant research and reconnaissance of the work site, they arrogantly developed the details of “its production”, they took a luxury cruise to arrive at a hostel (also luxury), they stayed a couple of weeks having a relatively cool time, the owners of the jungle freaking out, and they immediately sent to move to Lima. Then they worked the post production with all the gags, stereotypes and reiterations of bad stories and thus they launched “their miniseries” based on the story of a supposed jungle girl who talks to monkeys, dresses as a girl version of Sheena and tries to save the world from a brotherhood led by a duo of baddies who badly imitate Pinky and the Brain and speak with an impossible accent, to the point that they look like sad dogs barking. Now it leads the ranking of the most watched programs of the primetime of 9 at night.

"Yuru, the Amazonian princess" pretends to be a tribute to our jungle (now that, they say, we are in fashion) But in reality, the program of yore ends up being the most complete symbol of the daring ignorance with which certain individuals treat the provinces, and even more so to the Amazon. Produced by Michelle Alexander and broadcast by Latina Tv, I had never seen in recent times a production of considerable financing that shaped inconsistent plots, unspeakable characters, situations that border on nonsense and a supposed environmental message that does not penetrate even preschool children.

"Yuru" stands, however, as a powerful misinformation agent of character and reality. A few days ago, I decided to take a tour of the presentation of the actors held in the Mega Plaza of the northern cone of Lima and, although there was no suffocating crowd, a large number of people approached them and treated them like little stars. But, thanks to their efforts and the ineffable texture of the libretto, reality has been changed and all the pseudo characteristics they present about Amazonian life on the small screen are perceived almost as true by a large legion of admirers. And, therefore, it is true that in the face of a rather poorly inclusive policy of the State and in the face of a pretty poor intercultural educational content in schools and various academic centres, some sector of the public opinion may believe that the inhabitants of Iquitos, Pucallpa or Tarapoto speak as mentally weak or we dress in such a terrible way.

It is probable that they will never find a typically Amazonian girl who speaks with a valley girl accent like the rather pretentious Mayra Goñi (who surely can act well, but remains a fairly spoiled young woman from the channel who somewhat expanded on her childishness in a fairly deplorable interview with Cecilia Valenzuela.); that there is a grandfather who dresses with feathers on his head and speaks an Andean language (which is a factoid, as there are indeed speakers of the Quechuan language family living in the Amazon, it’s just that they mostly live in parts of both the Napo River valley and Madre De Dios); and that the bars and houses of the most humble people have the appearance of lodges for gringos. It is likely that there is no more unpleasant character like the one that plays Culebra (a funny jester, but with tics of the worst and most boring kind) and that the bad guy in the series is called “Tunche” (with “e”) and not tunchi (with “i”, as the famous spectral creature is usually called in the jungle), among other thick details that give an idea of ​​how bad the subject has been treated.

Nobody asks that a fictitious history could be a faithful reflection of reality, or a squared panorama of it; but from there to deform everything, to pretend to reflect microcosm in a loose and distorted way, to believe that a light and fun product can be made by making fun of the ignorance of others just because they have the power to access the national level through a channel television, there is a very long stretch. While efforts to expose our worldviews from within are not easy (despite the support received from sincere and dedicated advocates), there floats palpable examples that true cultural change and mental decentralization has yet to take place in our makers of stories. "Yuru" is a shoddy mess, a lacklustre caricature and an example of what not to do (and follow) in these globalized times of jarjachas, kharisiris, yaras, chullachaquis and tunchis (with "i", as they are known in the Peruvian jungle).

Otherwise, Tunchi and Tunche are interchangeable.

In fact, in 2007 a film entitled Tunche, a production effort by the Huancaino Nilo Inga, premiered, something which maintained the terminological meaning generally used in the Peruvian Andes, in an extremely valid way. However, if one wants to enter the Peruvian Amazon, especially in the huge northeastern state of Loreto, where the activities of the aforementioned miniseries take place, they will understand that the generalized and almost unanimous form of denomination is "tunchi", with "i". Uses and customs vary in each region of the country.

Classic Kamen Rider Amazon

A hypothetical international adaptation of the classic Kamen Rider Amazon by Shotaro Ishinomori will be produced by AdNess and Bluefin, if it’s going to be made at all. 

Kamen Rider Amazon in the international version has more diverse vocalisations and sounds than in the older versions of both live action and manga kinds. He is a beastly man, pounding his chest for different purposes. 

Ben Davis is an action survivor who has a rather heart breaking beginning, made worse by the murder of his ageing birth parents by a mentally hypnotised mad scientist, who was originally caring but got sold out into a scary mega corporate world, and ultimately bought by the abusive former master to Gargash, Dr. Geddon. Ben is also a significant mixed race character with brown eyes, whose paternal aunt Wanda brought him over to Peru before she died in a plane crash. After losing both his uncle and aunt, he was raised by a family of wild men living in the Jungles of Ucayali in Peruvian Amazonia. Later on, he had to survive by foraging for essential stuff like foods and clothing. Amongst his other jungle friends are Kunks and other mythical creatures.

Over time, he made friends with various part time nomads, a family of snowbirds, an ecologist and a mechanic. Unfortunately, the mechanic, who taught him some Peruvian Spanish, had also been killed off. As a teenager, he was trapped into a bio trafficker’s snare and had to be rescued by a Yacuruna, who bit his legs to lessen the snare’s unpleasant effects as he frees him. 

Even sadder, he lost his adoptive parents a few years later, as a chest pounding young man. As a result, he courageously protects his own friends from extensive exploitation by large corporations. It seems likely that Sande nuts and the meats of ice cream beans are amongst his favourite foods. Being an avid tree dweller, he lives in a treehouse near Taichi’s house. He is perhaps the first and sole openly bisexual Kamen Rider of the Showa period.   

Fellow Urbanites 

Lucy Jones is the brunette older sister of Francis, who has long wavy hair with varying fringe lengths. Her maternal grandparents are ethnic Croatians from Dalmatia who immigrated to the US for a better life elsewhere. She is fifteen years old. 

Taichi Tachibana’s nearly adult daughter is named Jess, who is a quad biking aficionado. She has a long straight hairdo with side parter bangs. 

A jungle dwelling kid named Ray is a boy with brute strength raised by the same adoptive tribe as Ben in the southwest Amazon jungle. He is most likely orphaned by the mechanic’s killer, a depravedly corrupt boss who killed his parents when he was a young baby. Like Ben, he sometimes pounds his chest when he’s excited or angry. He is almost certainly Ben’s adoptive younger brother. 

Veronica is Val’s long haired Latina friend with a Hime cut. 

Will Scott is a seven year old boy who is a newcomer to an otherwise sleepy suburban town infested with relatively corrupt cops. As his parents are former spinsters, he is largely not welcomed by fellow youngsters except for Kay. 

Francis Jones, an eight year old boy, is an ally of Ben Davis, as well as being the younger brother of Lucy. 

The other Allies  

Roger Drake is the eight year old younger brother of Val Drake and the son of Rusty Drake. 

Val Drake is a goth with short brown hair, who happens to be the daughter of Rusty Drake. 

Eric ‘Rusty’ Drake is one of the ecologists whom Kamen Rider Amazon befriended years before. 

Louise, basically one of Donna’s fellow friends, and a plucky neighbour of hers, is a lady ecologist in her twenties (later thirties). Her other friend is Jane Dyne, Kamen Rider Amazon’s first (then new) girlfriend. 

Mimi is Kamen Rider Amazon’s lover and eventual wife. When she first met Green, she was bedraggled, living in a squalid house next to a dumping ground for plastic. His badass nature ultimately persuades her, culminating in a rather plausible if very unlikely marriage to the young wild man she ultimately comes to love, which results in Beth being adopted. After her husband leads her to the Ucayali jungle, she also adores his lodge and will dare to go out for a birdwatching hike! 

Green’s immediate family 

Jasper Davis, a war veteran, was Ben’s birth father and Christina’s partner. 

Christina Yamamuro, a middle aged cubicle rat, was Ben’s birth mother. Shortly after he was born, Christina and her black American partner were forcibly experimented upon by devious scientists gone wild, and as a result they died in sadness knowing that they’re assaulted to smithereens. 

Beth is Ben’s adopted daughter. She’s been orphaned like her adoptive father since she was baby. Otherwise, she enjoys the jungle scenery as she grows to be as tough as her adoptive parents. 

Joe Pickens, Ben’s dead paternal uncle, was a cubicle rat ecologist who plane crashed to death along with his wife Wanda. Their friend was a well meant aviator. 

Wanda Pickens, Ben’s dead paternal aunt and his father’s sister, an explorer who ensured that Ben lived privately in the thick jungles near Pucallpa for much of his early life. 

Lila Pickens, an urban reporter, is Ben’s long lost older cousin. She is about thirty six years old. 

Simon Keats, Lila’s husband, is a workaholic Schoolteacher at an elementary school where his son Joey attends. 

Joey Keats, Lila’s son and Ben’s nephew, is both a preteen and a class clown. 

Donna Davis, a thirty two year old woman, is a lady who was kidnapped by Gargash before he died. Then she was freed by Kaza and Zeba from their own bad methods, so that she can reunite with her long lost little brother, Ben. 

The Monsters

Garvey, a clumsy mole monster who speaks English in a somewhat broken fashion, is a character who was once a senior human being before being reincarnated into a beast. He was a workplace reject who lived in a shed and frequently had nightmares of future upcoming scientists being sold out into a corporate world. He sacrifices himself to save Amazon Green from being obliterated by a very depraved monster, Malicia’s boss. 

Lyn, a llama monster who was one of a bunch of shanghaied monsters that Amazon Green had seen. Barely spoke much because of her worsening Alzheimer’s and was accidentally killed by the mantis monster. 

Gunna, a monster born into the infamous science experiment by Vandal BigWig that ultimately killed almost everyone, including Green’s birth parents. Is a non verbal, highly wild beast known to turn into the most powerful Beast rider of all. 

Reynaldo, a jaguar monster, was one of the unwilling recruits of Gargash before exiling from his wicked boss. 

Reynaldo’s daughter was named Josefina, who was forced to become a black Jaguar monster by the machinations of Dr. Geddon before the main story begins. 

Fan Made Kamen Rider and Super Sentai Ideas!

For the casual fans of Kamen Rider, Super Sentai and Power Rangers, here’s a stunning list of fan made Kamen Rider and Super Sentai Ideas 

Amazonger/Amazon Flash - Thunder Ryo from DeviantArt did something cool about half a decade ago, with Amazonian jungle animals! In the power ranger rangers version, if it could be made for tv at all, this would be the spinoff sequel to Power Rangers Wild Force, with a new group of ecotourist Rangers following the steps of Cole Evans and the gang! Two of these will be lifelong mixed race buddies Keenan Storm and Elliot Yamada, behaviourally opposite rangers! The latter had been adopted by a Latino Mestizo Colombian family in the Llanos/Amazon border and the former, whose middle aged birth parents got murdered by CyberGas, who in turn already morphed Dr Jock Radner into a magnificent monster bastard two decades before the parents themselves even met. Such a grand theft me murder was made when Elliot and Keenan was basically a milk mothered and recently born baby who didn’t even know that he’s born in America, inside the resident village shaman’s house! Geddon in turn will be murdered by a heroic female monster named Juno, whom they befriended when they’re children. 

Kamen Rider Voodoo - With my mind still churning out amazing dreams where fan made Rangers and Riders collaborate, one of the many ideas that I’ve churned during showers is Kamen Rider Voodoo, which I’m going to base on Sugaya’s darkly comedic version of Kamen Rider Amazon. Unlike Sugaya’s Amazon however, the series will be set in a fictionalised version of Louisiana with three riders named Damon Keita and pals Elise and Sonny. 

 

Power Rangers family tree

Andros Lycan

Wife: DivaTox’s aunt Prista

Daughter: Alexa Lycan (born 2005)

Do note that Andros married Prista in law order for her to escape her really screwed up family. Yup, that’s right! 

Tommy Oliver 

Wife: Kat Hillard

Children: JJ Oliver

In an ironic twist, both Tommy and Kat likely retired as full time Power Rangers. 

Damon Henderson  

Wife: Luciana Myles 

Children: Lumina (born 2006) and Helix Henderson (born 2010) 

Rocky DeSantos 

Wife: Tanya Sloan 

Son: Roy DeSantos (born 2008)  

Jason Lee Scott 

Wife: Karone Lycan 

Son: Leandro Scott (born 2003) 

Unfortunately, both Jason Lee and Karone died in a fire. 

What if certain Kamen Rider and Super Sentai shows got adapted by Hasbro and Bluefin?

Hello you! Anyone who's a megafan could deal to the fact that certain Super Sentai shows are not adapted into Power Rangers, for reasons too numerous to count, which is similar for nearly all Kamen Rider shows as well. Also, because there are fanfics everywhere about possible sequels, I could make soft reboots to a few beloved anthologised seasons a possibility, thus making them fully distinct but related tv series.  

Amazon - Based on the revered original Kamen Rider Amazon, an animated adaptation will have both Manga and Toku elements in check, even though it is much darker and more nuanced than either one. It is set in the Washington state and around Ucayali in Peru. The story will have three prologue films, three seasons, and three epilogue films filled with AdNess, Katuni and Bluefin distributed Merchandise! Being different from the versions of both manga and live action kinds, it will basically be a cross between Ainbo, Bomba and Dragnet. 

Jewel Force - Based on Goggle V, Jewel Force is basically set in the early 1980s with a team whose members are the Algerian Berber great Selim Zidane, The West Bengali hopeful Ganesh Chowdhury, the Caucasian chess geek Lizzie Richards Wise (John’s wife), the Korean American zookeeper Joe Park, and the Filipino gymnast Minnie Chavez.

AutoDrive - Based on Turboranger, AutoDrive is set in the mid 1970s and focuses on a team whose five members are Natalie Hilliard, Korean American Conrad Kwan (Trini’s South Korean dad), Roger Houston (Mimi’s dad), Margaret Haggard, Jonathan O’Shaughnessy, Donald Silvers (Moe’s dad), and Ronald Wendt. 

Sports Fever - Sports Fever is based on Denjiman and will feature a team of sports teachers; a Caucasian soccer goalie named Moe Silvers, a quarter-Korean American gymnast named David Park who is the son of Adam Park and Kimberly Ann Hart, the Black researcher Mimi Houston, the Puerto Rican boxing coach Max Reyes, and the brunette former tennis player Marnie Jones. 

Sun Vulcan - A darker and edgier sequel to Sports Gang and an improvement of one of the weakest Super Sentai shows on record, Sun Vulcan has the smallest team in PR history, consisting of a Nigerian American oceanographer named Alice Ayoade, a humble oceanographer named Liam Rhodes and a Bangladeshi American Bengali GWP Army officer named Ahmed Iqbal. 

Star Rangers - Basically adopting the Filipino English name of its Sentai predecessor, Star Rangers is definitely set in Angel Cove of the early 2020s and has five members; a Caucasian sports brat named Silo Penn, the Black American busker in training Joey Martinson, the redhead fashionista Peggy Stoner, the Irish Beast Hunter Marjorie Higgins, and the Korean American weightlifter Benjamin Cho. 

Turbo Force - The long awaited spinoff sequel to Power Rangers Turbo will be set in Coral Bay in what is clearly the mid-late 2010s, featuring a ragtag bunch of misfits trained by Adam Park; a preppie named Lisa Valens, the half-Mexican digger Zachary Perez, the Punjab Jock Morgan Singh, the Jewish nerd Tristan Wiener and the Mulatto scientist Louise Maynard. 

Bio Fury - Based on BioMan, it is basically going to be set Shortly After Beast Morphers, with the partly cybernetic team being well led by a Caucasian computer geek named Moxie Dean, which includes the quarter-Punjabi Esper Riley Bedi, the Mulatto Monique Thompson, the Japanese American Rebecca Ono, and the Jewish martial arts nut Justin Weinberg. 

Flash Overdrive - Based on FlashMan, Flash Force has five members who are all foundlings in a spaceship; a Caucasian named Luna Nicolson, the Bengali nerd Rajesh Chowdhury (Ganesh’s son), the Half-Tamil Maisie Krishnamurthy (Samuel’s daughter), the Mulatto Louie St John, and the redhead Esper Kenny Morrison (Gerry Morrison’s son). 

Pirate Fever - A Spinoff Sequel to Super Megaforce, Pirate Fever basically focuses on the Megaforce ship changing hands to five remnant members from a benign spacefaring human alien culture which crashed hundreds of years ago. The Edenoian siblings Kea, Miriam, Boris, Natasha, Noah and Jimmie discover and explore what makes the world great. 

Operation Magic - Based on ChangeMan, Operation Magic focuses on the first PR team wholly native to the European subcontinent, which has members named Andre Lacoste, Guillermo Delgado, Lucy Graham, Sven Gustafson, and Yolanda Kowalski. 

Astro Force - Based on Kyuranger but otherwise a spinoff of Cosmic Fury, it has a naturally large team of both humans and human aliens and is set a decade after Beast Morphers. Members include the Swedish fashionista Lotta Sassoon, the blonde haired high school heartthrob Joshua McCarmichael, the Pinoy sports brat Rex Bernardo, The space android jester Jason Jewel, The mighty shining space knight Ozone, the cloudy errand space thief Nassim, the adorable helper robot Wendee, the schoolboy Terry Gillis, the Black bookworm Rob Smith, Anubis Cruger’s son Roderick Cruger, The majestic viceroy Kung Pao, the Alaskan Native Meditation Guy Wally Chandler, and the stunning Brazilian martial arts guy Oscar Machado. 

Dance Flash - Based on Kiramager, Dance Flash is a sequel to Mystic Force set in the early 2020s, with a 6 member team that consists of Aisha Campbell and TJ Johnson's daughter Molly Johnson, DivaTox and Damon Henderson's fraternal twin children Alexa and Helix Henderson, Noelle Tennyson, Teddy's younger brother Timothy Losada, and Reagan Foxworthy. 

In The City - Based on LupinRanger Vs Pataranger, this one is the first show in Power Rangers history to focus on two teams and has the first All-South African PR teams too. Because these South African Power Rangers will be of various contrasts, there's a Zulu, a Venda, and a Xhosa on the Lupin Tsotsi Team while there's an Afrikaner, an Indian, and a Griqua on the Police Team, which means that the show is going to be set in both a different continent and a continuity of its own.

Dyna Rangers - Based on Dynaman but set in the early 2000s in Angel Cove Rd, it focuses on Lora Banks, Gerry Morrison, Bradley St John (Louie’s dad), Amanda Wise and Harold Reno. 

Animal Force - Based on Liveman, the team consists of Gabriel Losada, Kimberly's sister Keri Hart, Trip's older brother Jack Regis, John Wise (Amanda’s dad) and Troy Weiner (Tristan’s dad). 

Train Station - Based on ToQGer, This one will have India's first official Power Rangers team! Made for the South Asian Market, it will feature six all-Indian Power Rangers, with a localised Conductor being a cool Indian character to watch, as well as featuring a fanservice robot named Wagon. 

Kung Fu Steel - Based on MaskMan, Its Team Members are the First PR team native to Oceania; the members are the Lebanese Australian Lola Hakim, the Vietnamese Australian Wesley Tran, Donald Headey, the Sydneysider Aboriginal Sandy Hutchinson, and a blonde named Mike Wilkinson.

Solitaire Smashers - Based on JAKQ Dengekitai, Solitaire Smashers focuses on a bunch of practically unknown adult talents protecting the world from an invasion led by the infamous Orc Breach. The members are Japanese American karate honcho Lucas Yamamoto, Costa Rican American boxing brat Teddy Losada, Caucasian policewoman Karen Miller, quarter-Irish oceanographer Melinda O’Gravy, and the Afro Caribbean playboy Oswald Harewood. 

Jetman Avian Academy - Jetman Avian Academy will be one of the few aimed at general adult audiences these days, due to its eponymous Super Sentai ancestor Jetman's rather dark nature. It will also be the first one to be set in a city that isn't in California nor in the West Coast, so that means it'll be set in a fictitious version of Washington DC (Which I Codenamed Angel And Devil Food Bay) instead and is also going to be a gritty East-Coast focused spin-off of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers from California. The Team Members are Atticus Johnson’s Caucasian parents Linus Johnson and Wendy Muller Johnson, a part-Native American High School girl named Paula Louis Wheeler, the Black Virginian farm boy Daniel Morton and the 75 percent Tamil treasure hunter Samuel Krishnamurthy. 

ZEO Charge - The Long Awaited Spinoff Sequel to Power Rangers ZEO features a ragtag bunch of college aged palaeontologists; a Mulatto house brat named Jockey Mulgrave, the prim half-Puerto Rican Monica Lumley, the half-Cantonese Jock Sonny Fong, the quarter-Italian party animal Tony Abruzzo, and the Native American storyteller Imogen David Bedard, who fight to save their own world from the corrupt Alien Invaders known as Shocker, who were Hanneken Niels and Freek Merhottein’s arch-foes.

X-Ray Rider - X-Ray Rider is both the adaptation expansion (of both Kamen Rider Black and Kamen Rider Black RX) and the more faithful soft remake of the hilariously bad Masked Rider. Unlike in Black and RX, both goody X-Ray’s first girlfriend and his little stepbrother Specs have been forcibly kidnapped together by The Gorgom Corps as the former’s parents have separated (being a female vet’s daughter, her father was turned into a Kaijin sweep) and the latter has overworked, but amicably divorced parents. 

Meanwhile, poor Specs stayed for years at the Gorgon Asylum and saw X-Ray’s unluckier rival Shadow Moon doing BDSM on his maudlin ex schoolteacher. The depressed ex-school bully himself is also in a dysfunction junction, but otherwise knew that his mad scientist mother turned him into a Kaijin after making his army veteran father turn into one. 

After an epic battle, X-Ray and Shadow Moon de powered quite quickly and heavily in a brought down to normal manner, even after the former becomes a Creation King. Although Shadow Moon regrets his horrid misdeeds, the hero still can’t forgive his former bestie for his worst actions, but does love him to an extent nonetheless. It kind of means that both will calm down and move on. With the Gorgom Corps becoming defunct due to how corrupt it was, a majority of temporary Kaijins turn back slowly into the fallible humans that they are, whereas most survivors who are semi Kaijins have to deflect the flak and are getting used to their newfound powers. Funnily enough, there is a full on class conflict in the show unlike in the contentious Black Sun. 

ZX Rider - ZX Rider has a trio of insect themed heroes motorbiking around the town. 

Critter Squad - Basically the Anglicised equivalent of Zyuohger, Critter Squad will otherwise be set in a different dimension (from the Dino Charge-Dino Fury and the SPD-Beast Morphers verses) and have a plot that has more to do with accepting cultural differences in a time where both the alt-right and the alt-left run amok with impunity. Leo = Lionel (his grandparents come from Gujarat, India), Tusk = Tusker (his grandparents come from Ghana), Sela = Shelly (her grandparents come from Honolulu, Hawaii), Amu = Ananda (her grandparents come from Uttar Pradesh, India), and Bud = Roddy Redbreast (he is from California). 

Grasshopper Rider - The first Kamen Rider show in the world will have a pretty honest international adaptation, if X-Ray Rider succeeds on web television. Antenis Vandersteen will be the resident mentor to the obviously super intelligent cyborgs, the psychic Freek Merhottein (not quite a Gary Stu but still has tendencies typical of the archetype) and the cynical Hanneken Niels. 

Deja Vu Rangers - Devised as one of the spinoff sequels to the Original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, but set in the late 2010s and based partly on Dairanger like the MMPR's second season. It has a new team of misfits trained by Justin Stewart, but led by Rocky DeSantos and Tanya Sloan’s own son Roy DeSantos, who’s a nerdy fan, with the rest being plain unknown misfits named Abigail Ocampo (a Pinoy), Ruslan Tartakovsky (a Jewish house brat), Telly Wahlgren (a Minnesotan Jock) and Gina Walsh (a North Carolingian hillbilly), plus a mysterious cat boy human alien pirate named Yakhim, a fanboy of Tommy himself. 

Battle Fever - An improvement of what could clearly be Battle Fever J, one of the weakest Super Sentai Shows on record. It is going to be set in the same time frame as Power Rangers Super Megaforce but will first have five, then six, and later seven Rangers unlike the original, which is plain hideous for the costumes alone. It is also going to have the first all-international team of human Power Rangers, who are also the first Power Rangers with jobs that suit well for their general teenage audience. They also have wildly differing backstories; Mekatilili (Kenya Black) is a badass Giriama Mijikenda adoptee whose birth parents died of Aids, Diane Martin (America White) is a gymnast, Jorge Mendez (Colombia Yellow) is a Mestizo street urchin turned wrestler, Patrice Chivard (France Blue) is a fencer, Ryan O'Connell (Ireland Orange) is a quirky exchange teacher, Seiko Shiraishi (Japan Pink) is a J-pop fan, and Randy Gervais (Canada Red) is a bilingual schoolboy. 

PreHydrated - One of the MMPR’s Two Spin-off Sequels, set in the same time frame as Megaforce, PreHydrated focuses on Billy Cranston and Joel Rawlings’ own adopted son Marcus and his five friends, Maya and Cole Evans’ adopted daughter Holly Evans, the Blonde Mindy Wilde, the half-Pinoy and half-Irish Edward Kennedy, and Mindy’s brunette Boyfriend Jim Rogers.  

Solar Rangers - Solar Rangers is the decades ahead spinoff sequel to Power Rangers in Space, but set in the late 2010s and featuring Karone and Jason Lee Scott’s son Leandro Scott and his five friends, Andros’ daughter Alexa (also Leandro’s cousin), the Taiwanese American nerd Jack Pei, Max Wilson, the Puerto Rican Kelley Gonzalez and Atticus Johnson. 

 

Urban Folktales to Watch For

Not written until October 2022. 

Refreshing old Bollywood movies and internationally forgotten Japanese schlock works is a lot harder than it sounds, not just due to a ton of legal nightmares but also due to various cultural differences.

Although trademarks are abused just as strongly as copyright, so the first two Hunterwali movies are still not fully in the public domain until 2075 for almost all nations. Thankfully, a new version can still be set in Tanzania with the permission of a superb Tanzanian cast! 

Chances are almost certain that the iconic Indian Parsi merchandisers, JBH and Homi Wadia, created a character who originally was in the most popular Tarzan expy film series in Bollywood history. Originally, he was also named in honour of the savage pulp hero whom he first imitated, Zimbo is his official name from 1958 onwards, likely for reasons related to Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc being explosive as hell! Now, in a time where super strong trademarks rule the roost, even the concept of Hunterwali has been reinvented quite a lot in the South Asian subcontinent. 

If plausible licensing issues can soften up, an anime adaptation will be made possible with the help of Akihito Yoshitomi and Studio Magic Bus. 

Things not included in super pulp theatre, but otherwise belong to another franchise entirely. 

Hey, I do think the Shōnen Buruuba manga is (way) more like a (better made) sequel to the Buruuba film and a spiritual spinoff to the currently seven main Baruuba books (created by Yoshimasa Ikeda) than another one by Jun Toyama before it. Something different can be said for the Buruuba film being (way) more like a highly distinct shlock masterpiece, which was meddled too easily and got slapped rather wrongfully with (a spelling variant of) the book series’ name, disappointing the Japanese box office as a result. 

Things that belong to the Pierrot Kids Classics Theatre

A Cyberpunk Tarzan’s guide to nature and spirits

It is pretty much possible that the cyberpunk Disney’s Tarzan reboot may be more expansive than even its source materials would apply. 

The Mayombe rainforest is perhaps the most biodiverse ecoregion in all the Central African nations just south of both Sanaga and Nyong but west of the actual Congo River Basin. Even when it still does exist in the far future, if at all, some of it will mostly consist of various abandoned settlements. 

In a more hopeful note, it’s possible that many of Mayombe’s wild animals are still trying to adapt in the midst of a big change. Even when the Gorillas and Chimps may rebound in terms of population numbers, a few other kinds of plausible great apes and hominids may appear at any time. That includes the DragonFoot Apemen and its nearby offshoots, which are amongst the most dangerous of them all. Other than that, a bunch of other breakaway Mangani clans who live in many Chibungu (Villages of the Dead) and who have their own Chinkumbi, Banchondi, Bamuéné, Banganga, Bampunzi, Bavinji and Bandochi, are just as dangerous, if not much worse than their fellow kin. In a happy twist of irony, there are mud apes and swamp apes, better known as Anglophone Minority World curios, rather than actually being from a mix of both coastal West Central African and Native North American mythologies. 

Other inhabitants include the dreaded AgroPelter. 

There are also south-central chimpanzees, African forest elephants, bay duikers, greater spot nosed guenons, Gabon talapoins, yellow backed duikers, Malbrouck monkeys, black collared lovebirds, Lord Derby’s anomalures, crested Mona guenons, Stanger’s giant squirrels, water chevrotains, Central African linsangs, western lowland gorillas, Side Striped Jackals, African golden cats (aka jungle caracals), Egyptian mongooses, red headed lovebirds, white bellied duikers, greater cane rats, rusty spotted genets, black fronted duikers, white crested (African) tiger herons, African civets, servaline genets, black footed mongooses, straw coloured fruit bats, Sitatungas, Egyptian rousette bats, red tailed African grey parrots, blue duikers, African palm civets, African leopards, Beecroft’s anomalures and mandrills. 

In the villages, the dwarf goats, village dogs and dwarf sheep are often seen flocking around. 

The various kinds of True and False Manganis, living in numerous Chibindu (Valleys), may also be prominently shown in the serial story, perhaps because a few of their plausible inspirations come from both Yombe and Vili mythologies. Tonganis also appear, fully packed with equally brutal behaviour underneath their cheetah like physical appearances. 

What about the Gormanganis, Bolganis and Gomanganis? They are mixed hominid slave soldiers, amongst some of the most horrific results of a successful pillage and destroy program made by a long-gone Empire. 

There are also the usual spirits from the Kongo group of mythologies, which come in the forms of Minchondi, Minchisi, Misimbi and Michinda. Then there are the Chinkokó, mix and match familiars created from various dead nonhumans and humans. There are also the infamous magical pots known as the Nzungu Madungu.